


Charmed and Hexed

by idiotwithacatpen, TesseractTown



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Flirting, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Multi, Slow Burn, We tried, and yes, chaotic chaos, it's an absolute klusterfuck y'all, klusterfuck, like i said, so the title? ahahahah oops, we made everything up besides the actual story in like 30 minutes so I'm sorry in advance, we tried lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23125561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idiotwithacatpen/pseuds/idiotwithacatpen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TesseractTown/pseuds/TesseractTown
Summary: I finally get to see what she’s been referring to as the van shoots into motion. Someone looks up from the edges of the woods- except I can tell by their face alone that their face is rotting away. By all accounts, they shouldn’t still be alive.The person lurches closer, and that’s when I realize that they aren’t alive. The hunger in their eyes is unmistakable, but that’s no person. It’s a-“Zombie?” Tai shrieks. “What kind of fever dream is this?”
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 33
Kudos: 41





	1. First Night

QROW

The one thing I’ve always hated about Patch is that the nights are eerily quiet. Even in the woods that surround it, you can hear a pin drop into the dirt. It’s probably because Raven’s sprayed enough pesticide to kill every bug in a ten-mile radius, but that’s just my theory.

So when I hear the scream that shatters the silence, I think nothing of it. In Patch, our houses might be far apart, but noises can carry for a mile. For all I know, it could be someone as far as Signal, or it could be in our backyard.

I’m about to dismiss it when I hear the front door open. Footsteps grow louder and louder as someone races through the hall, shouting something I can barely make out over the sounds of them crashing through the house. It takes a few seconds to recognize Summer’s voice. “Get the girls! We have to go!”

Panic jolts through me as I stand from my chair. What could possibly be so bad that we have to leave at midnight? Whatever it is, the terror in Summer’s voice can’t be faked. I rush to the door and yank it open, stepping out into the hall.

Summer appears in front of me, her hair a mess and her silver eyes wild. The white cape that she loves so much is torn and muddy, but she doesn’t seem to care. “Qrow!” She cries as soon as she sees me. “There’s no time to explain- I need your help. Get everyone to the garage, now! I’ll wake up Raven, you get Tai and Ruby!”

She runs off towards Raven’s room without another word, her cape billowing behind her. I duck into the door next to mine and hurry to the large bed inside. 

Tai doesn’t even look up, and despite the circumstances, I can’t help but roll my eyes. Even with Summer tearing through the house, he’s still sleeping. At least he doesn’t snore.

“Tai,” I say, shaking his shoulder. He mumbles something unintelligible and rolls out of my grasp. I sigh and reach for Summer’s least favorite pillow. She always complains that it’s too hard for any human to sleep on it, and I’m about to put that to the test.

I raise the pillow over my head and swing it as hard as I can in the general direction of Tai. It hits him with a loud thump that definitely shouldn’t be coming from a pillow.

Tai’s eyes snap open, and he gives me a tired glare. “Seriously?”

“We have to go.” I yank his blanket away from him as he stares at me, still not comprehending the situation.

“What is it?” Tai asks, slowly looking more alert. “Is there a fire?”

I can only shake my head. “I have no idea. Summer just told me to wake you up and get Ruby.”

Tai slides out of bed, still moving sluggishly, but not as slowly as he was before. He pulls a box out from under the bed and tosses a picture frame from his nightstand into it. A few more pictures and keepsakes later, he follows me out the door and into the hallway.

A glance to my right tells me that Raven hasn’t stopped locking her door at night despite Yang’s many attempts to sleep in her bed, or maybe it’s because of Yang’s many attempts to sleep in her bed. She’s Raven, after all. Anything’s possible.

Summer bangs on the door as loudly as she can, shouting Raven’s name. My sister’s response is… less than appropriate. All I can do is hope that Ruby and Yang aren’t awake to hear it.

Tai and I head for Ruby’s room while Summer continues pounding the door with her fist, her boot joining in the loud banging. Raven still doesn’t open her door.

As I open Ruby’s door, I watch Summer back up as far as she can in the narrow hallway. Just before I make it into Ruby’s room, Summer runs forward and kicks the door as hard as she can.

The door slams to the ground with a loud bang. Ruby whimpers at the noise as she practically leaps out of bed and scrambles to me. “Uncle Qrow?” She whispers, silver eyes shining with tears. “What’s going on?”

I hesitate as my mind races for an excuse. I’ve never been good at this. Doing my best to channel Summer’s smile, I lean down to pick her up. “It’s okay, kiddo. We have to go for a little, but we’ll be back soon.”

Ruby shrinks away from my arms. “I have to take my things,” she insists, glancing around the room for her backpack. She dashes to her closet before I can say anything and yanks out a red backpack with RUBY ROSE stitched on the front. It’s rarely ever been used, but Ruby likes to pack it full of-

She turns the backpack upside down and shakes it. Dozens of rose petals spill out, fluttering all over the floor, but she’s already moving for her bookshelf. Ruby scoops her favorite stuffed animals into the bag. As I grab her dog pillow, I think I see a pile of cookies fall in, but they’re gone a second later.

When Ruby’s done, she hurries back to me and wraps her arms around my neck when I pick her up. I feel a teardrop fall on my shoulder as I carry her out of the room.

In the hallway, Yang trails after Raven as fast as she can. She clutches a few of her books in her hands, a giraffe toy sticking out of the backpack on her back. Tai follows behind her, carrying a stack of boxes so tall that his vision is mostly obscured.

Just as he passes me, Tai slips and falls forward, the boxes tumbling from his arms like an avalanche. Yank squeaks and dodges them as they fall to the ground one after another, some opening and spilling their contents on the floor.

“There’s no time, Tai,” Summer shouts as she leaps over Tai’s fallen form, spinning around to pull him up. “Leave them.”

Tai sends the boxes a sad glance, staring at the photo frames. He picks up as many of the shut boxes as he can and follows Summer down the hallway.

We all turn the corner as fast as we can, and Summer even grabs the wall to swing herself around it. She overtakes Raven and opens the door to the garage, flicking on the lights and standing to the side so we can go in.

Raven disappears into the side of the garage where the lights don’t work, reappearing with our hunting rifles in her arms. She opens the trunk of the minivan and dumps them all in, throwing the guns we use for predators in after. She helps Yang into the van, and as she turns, I see a knife glinting at her side. Where did she get that?

The answer is obvious. She’s Raven. Anything’s possible.

Tai shuts the trunk and climbs into his seat on the passenger’s side, balancing his boxes on one arm. I slip into the second row after Raven and Yang as Summer slams her door shut.

Raven and Yang sit down in the back row while I buckle Ruby into her seat. Summer pulls out her scroll and hits a button on it. The garage door starts rumbling open, agonizingly slow compared to our mad rush to the van.

Summer turns back. “I don’t know how many of them are out there,” she tells us. “Cover Yang and Ruby’s eyes.”

After a second of puzzled silence, Raven and I reach over and cover the girls’ eyes with our hands. Yang protests for a few seconds, but Raven murmurs a few words of comfort and she relaxes. Ruby barely reacts as she clings to her bag.

Summer’s about to slam the gas when she looks back at us again, horror dawning in her eyes. “I forgot the dog.”

We all look back at the door, even Yang, twisting out of Raven’s grasp. Ruby doesn’t flinch as she reaches blindly for the zipper on her bag. She opens it after a moment of searching.

Zwei pops out of it with a yip and hops into Ruby’s lap. He seems to notice Summer what’s going on and sits up, his ears blocking Ruby’s eyes even more.

“...Never mind,” Summer mutters. She turns back to the garage doors, which have finally finished opening. “I hope you buckled up!”

I finally get to see what she’s been referring to as the van shoots into motion. Someone looks up from the edges of the woods- except I can tell by their face alone that their face is rotting away. By all accounts, they shouldn’t still be alive.

The person lurches closer, and that’s when I realize that they aren’t alive. The hunger in their eyes is unmistakable, but that’s no person. It’s a-

“Zombie?” Tai shrieks. “What kind of fever dream is this?”

“Unfortunately, a very real one,” Summer snaps as she turns the corner with the skill of a race car driver. “Why do you think I told you to cover their eyes?”

Tai doesn’t get to reply as the minivan goes over a huge bump. Then another. When the minivan jolts a third time, Summer hisses, “Shit.”

“Language,” Tai reprimands immediately. “The girls are here.”

“We’re getting chased by reanimated corpses and all you can think about are some motherfu-”

Tai claps a hand over her mouth, muffling the sound of her finishing her sentence. Summer yanks her head away after a few seconds, and the second she does, Tai asks, “What happened?”

“I ran over the sunflowers,” Summer admits. She turns her eyes back to the road, the headlights of the minivan illuminating the figures emerging from the trees on either side. “But now that I think of it, it doesn’t seem very high on the priority list!”

“You ran over the what?”

“Never mind, it’s definitely high on the priority list!”

Tai and Summer start bickering in the front seats. I turn to Raven, careful to keep my hands over Ruby’s eyes. “And yet you still say you miss being in love,” I whisper, keeping my tone as light as possible.

Raven frowns. “You’ll understand one day. But until then- eyes on the road. Summer might not spot everything if she’s too distracted.”

I sigh and turn back to where Summer and Tai are still arguing. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Qrow, this is the apocalypse. There is no lightening the mood.” She’s not exactly wrong. As the adrenaline starts to wear off, the gravity of our situation sinks in. The zombie apocalypse has started. Great. Just your average Tuesday, but whatever.

I don’t get the chance to reply when Tai sits up straighter in his seat. “We have to warn everyone else!”

Summer shakes her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. “I texted the group chat. There’s nothing else we can do- either they make it out, or they don’t.”

Tai gapes at her. “But- we can help!”

“Would you really risk Ruby and Yang for that?” Summer retorts. “If it was just the four of us, I’d be fine with it, but it’s not fair to them to risk our lives. If we die, they die.”

He sends her a desperate look, but he can’t argue with her. Ruby and Yang are relying on us to keep them safe, after all. I don’t completely know what’s going on, but Summer’s right. We can’t go back for these people.

Finally, Tai slumps and asks, “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere remote,” Summer replies immediately. “I’m thinking near Atlas, where people don’t tend to go. Or die.”

Raven speaks up from behind me, her voice barely still calm. “Drive faster. If we don’t make it onto the highway in time, we’ll never get out of the traffic. We’ll be an easy meal.”

“You’re making some dangerous assumptions about the eating habits of these things, but whatever,” Summer replies, voice tight. “And I’m going as fast as I can. We still have that extra gas, right?”

Tai nods. “We should save it. The gas stations won’t close immediately, will they?”

“We’re going to run out eventually,” Summer sighs. “What are we going to do then?”

“I think we still have our camping supplies in here from last month.”

“That’s not going to work. They’ll rip us apart.”

“We’ll figure it out as we go, Summer. For now, let’s just focus on getting out of here.” Tai’s tone is soothing, but it doesn’t mask the fear. 

Summer relaxes ever so slightly. “Okay,” she says simply. 

I turn to look out the window. Mercifully, there’s no more of the zombies around us. It looks like we’ve gotten past them.

“Do you think that after this blows over, we might be able to go back and get more of our things?” Tai asks quietly.

Summer starts to say something, but I interrupt her. “Tai. We can’t go back.” I try to keep it short, but the words spill out all the same. “We’re never going to go back to Patch. Don’t you see? Everyone’s dead and dying. These things are going to spread, and then what? All we can do is run, Tai. There’s nothing else.”

Tai opens his mouth to respond, but I shake my head. “No. Don’t even bother.” He still looks doubtful after a few seconds, so I repeat my words. “We can’t go back.”

This time, it feels even more final. I spend a few seconds to think about it. I can’t figure out a way I’d be wrong. Whatever just happened has just flipped the world upside down, and nothing we can do will stop it.

I’m so deep in thought about what we’ll do next that I jump when Raven leans dramatically back in her seat and sighs, “Just our luck.”

Just our luck indeed.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
CLOVER

I am patrolling the streets of Mantle when I hear a low growling noise to my left. Marrow and I turn to the noise and see a face staring back at us.

I walk up to the figure, “Sir, are you alright? We heard yo-”

All of a sudden the figure launches out at me, I trained for this, I have this. I pull out my gun and point it at the figure. I hear Marrow pull out his gun behind me. I take the figure in, the figure doesn’t look human-like, but at the same time, it does. The face looks like it had been rotting away for a century, so did the rest of the body. On reflex, I about turn around and puked.

“This has to be my imagination right? There is no way I am in a movie right now,” I say as I turn back to Marrow. Marrow’s eyes widen as he pulls the trigger of the gun. The bullet goes flying past my face and is buried deep inside the zombie.

The zombie falls to the ground and Marrow says, “I don’t think this is your imagination, Clover. Come on, let’s get back to Atlas.”

Marrow starts to sprint down the streets of Mantle, I follow in pursuit. We don’t see any of those… rotten zombies for a while, but nothing good lasts forever.

We come to a screeching halt as we see a lot more zombies. Marrow throws his hands in the air, “What the hell is this?!”

I grab Marrow and lead him down an alleyway where there seem to be only a few zombies. Marrow and I fire rounds at the zombies, and they fall to the ground. We quickly run over the zombies as we make a mad-dash for Atlas.

When we get to the small clearing between Mantle and Atlas we stop and take in our surroundings. The screams, the panic echoing in my mind. I hesitate and Marrow looks behind him, at me, “Clover, come on, as much as I would like to help them as well, we can’t. We have to get back to Atlas and warn them if they don’t already know.”

I nod as we shoot across the clearing. We approach Atlas gates, we flash our IDs at the guards and they let us through. We run through the streets of Atlas till we are banging on General Ironwood’s door.

He opens the door and frowns at us, “This better be good.”

He lets Marrow and me inside and he offers us a seat, we politely decline when Marrow says one word, “Zombies.”

General Ironwood starts to laugh, “Don’t joke around with me like this Marrow, what is really going on?”

I look between Marrow and the General, “Marrow is serious, there are zombies on the outer-edge of Mantle, we got jumped by a few. The people in the outskirts of Mantle… are dying.”

General Ironwood seems to be in thought for a moment before saying, “As much as I want to believe this is false, your panic seems real. Send everyone to secure the outskirts of Mantle, and from the zombies from getting any closer to Atlas, and to save Mantle.”

I nod as Marrow and I say at the same time, “Yessir.”

We exit the house as we sprint to the police station and I pull out my scroll and text Elm, Vine, and Harriet about the whole situation. We make a call to all the other police about what we are supposed to do, and what they needed to bring.

I get a message on my scroll about shutting the gates and not to let anyone in. When we run to the gates with the rest of the police force, my team and I stop at the gates, I tell the guards that they are to go fight with the rest, and my team and I were supposed to sit here and guard the gates.

I can hear the screams in the distance, they seem to be getting closer, why did General Ironwood have to assign us to the gates? Why couldn’t we go help them?

Harriet sits down at the gate, “This is actually happening, isn’t it?”

Marrow nods, “It’s all surreal.”

I nod as well, “Considering I about, well did, get jumped by one, I say this is all very real.”

Elm punches the gate and the gate rattles.

“I can’t wait till I can get my hands on one! They deserve a good punching!”

Everyone laughs when I say, “No offense Elm, but I don’t really think you want to punch one of these, they might bite your hand off.”

Marrow snorts, “That sounds amusing.”

Vine frowns, “How is that amusing. Marrow?”

Marrow shrugs, “It just sounds amusing. I haven’t seen it happen before.”

Vine sighs when Harriet speaks up again, “Do you really think that they will be able to secure Mantle?”

I nod, “Let’s try to see the positive side of things. We all are alive, and Atlas is safe.”

Marrow looks at me, “For now.”

I sit down on the ground and lean my head against the gate, “But if I had to guess, we have a long night ahead of us.”

Harriet paces back and forth, “If I had to guess, the sleep we had last night was the last good sleep we will be getting for a long time.”

Marrow, once again, snorts, “Tell me about it. I wish I could go back to yesterday.”

I yawn, “Sadly, time does not work like that, Marrow.”

“Clover, you look like you are about to fall asleep,” Elm says.

I yawn again, “Tell me about it. But there is no room for sleep now.”

“Damn straight,” Harriet says as she continues to pace. She hesitates. “Well, not straight, but…”

“So, we just can’t let anyone in or anyone out?” Marrow says as he looks over to Mantle?

Vine nods, “That is what I have gathered.”

“So we get to become self-sufficient!” Marrow exclaims.

“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not,” I say glancing over at Marrow who is still looking off into the distance at Mantle. 

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. No one was expecting an outbreak of zombies… sure, we saw it in movies, but that was fictional, not a reality anyone would think of themselves to be in. But yet, here we are, guarding the gates to Atlas, from Mantle, from the world. I can only guess what the rest of the world is going through right now, we are only one city and we are struggling, all those poor people. If anything, I am grateful I am here in Atlas, safe, for the time being.

I look over to the rest of my team, “How long do you think this will go on for?”

Harriet shrugs, “Till more people start living than dying. If I had to guess there are more people dying right now than living.”

I sigh, “Well, this is what we signed up to do.”

Marrow turns around, “To protect the people.”

I nod, “We all did this for different reasons, but we all wanted to do something good for Atlas, for the world.”

Elm rolls her eyes, “I never knew you were so good at pep talks, Clover.”

I wink at Elm, “It is a newfound skill.”

“Is it now?” Vine asks, “Just magically appeared out of nowhere?”

I nod, “My skills magically appear out of nowhere, it’s how it works.”

“Why aren’t you so lucky,” Marrow says, “Your luck is better than all of ours combined.”

I put my hands up, “I wouldn’t go that far! I mean, you guys have some good luck too. There aren’t any bars over our heads to gauge our luck.”

“Yes, there is,” Marrow says squinting to just above my head, “I see one above you and it is full.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes, “Seriously, Marrow? I’m not dumb.”

Marrow starts to laugh, “Am I not allowed to make bad jokes?”

“Not at all, Marrow, erase them from your vocabulary,” Elm says.

“ELM!!!!” Marrow exclaims as he looks at me with pleading eyes.

I wave him off, “You’re on your own on this one.”

“Traitor!”

I lean my head back against the gate pole as Marrow and Elm bicker in the background. Here we are, guarding the gate, arguing like we are in elementary school all over again when just over the horizon, the world’s worst fear is just coming to life.

Maybe, just maybe we can be normal for one more night before this hellish nightmare reaches us. It’s already reached so many people in the world, but not us yet. Just a little bit more time of this, of us being able to hang out like friends, of us being able to relax. Just a little more time… before the storm.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The events of what would be known as First Night kills 40% of Remnant’s population. In the years that follow, their bodies rise as zombies to hunt their former friends, only stopping when they are killed or their bodies turn to dust. 

By the time ten years have passed, most of the people who were old enough to remember First Night are dead. They rarely speak of the ordeal, of the trials they went through to escape that are too painful to repeat. Many people still wander the earth and many live in walled settlements, but they are all hounded by the undead. 

Qrow and his family move from place to place, sleeping in trees and eating whatever they can find. As Ruby and Yang grow, their memories of First Night fade. And maybe that’s for the best. Slowly but surely, they move towards Atlas, having heard tales of the safety it offers from other travelers.

Clover and his friends stay in Atlas, helping to guard Mantle from the zombies- or what remains of it. Any person living outside of Mantle’s flimsy border wall is long dead, their homes turned to ruins. General Ironwood rules Atlas, keeping his people safe. But good things don’t last. Not in the apocalypse.

And certainly not when you have a bad luck charm on your side.


	2. Vytal Festival

Who signed me up for this? How did I end up agreeing to be on a basketball team, for a joke originally and well, here I am? 

I sit on the bench in the locker room as I gaze over at Marrow, “How did we go from being cops to being on a basketball team in the finals?”

Marrow laughs, “We are just that good, that’s how.”

I roll my eyes at Marrow as I stand up and stretch, “You really think we can beat the psychopaths we are up against? They like playing dirty.”

Elm walks into the locker room, “As if they could win.”

“ELM!” Marrow shrieks, “OUT OUT OUT OUT NOW!”

Elm walks over and wraps an arm around Marrow, “You love me, just admit it!”

“Like hell I do!” Marrow says ducking out from under Elm’s arm.

I walk over to the both of them, “We need to focus on the game.”

Harriet comes speeding into the room behind me, “WHAT’S THE FUN IN THE GAME IF THERE IS NO FUN BEFOREHAND?”

I sigh and turn to Harriet, “Seriously Harriet?”

Then finally, Vine waltzes in, “Yup, she seriously did it, might as well get used to it.”

“You guys have 5 minutes, hurry up,” I hear Winter say from behind me.

“Are there plenty of fans?” I turn around to face Winter.

“What do you think? We have the most muscles anyone has ever seen,” Harriet says from beside me.

“Let’s get headed guys, we got a game to play,” Vine says as he walks first.

We all follow in pursuit till we walk out onto the floor, all the fans cheering in the stands. 

“You know eight years ago, you wouldn’t have thought this to be possible,” Marrow says.

“You mean the day I about died?” I say jokingly back.

“Hey, that was funny,” Marrow says snarkily as he throws me a basketball, getting ready to start warming up.

“You would be so lost without me around,” I say with an eye roll as I turn back around to face the stands when my eyes lock onto a person in the crowd. Of course, the man had to be wearing our merch, my merch specifically. Hey, it complimented his black hair well. His friend must have caught onto my staring in their direction because one moment she is sitting peacefully next to him, and the next she is hitting him and screaming something in his face, poor guy. The guy hits her back as he stands up and starts cheering with the rest of them. I feel a nudge to my side.

“What are you staring at?” Elm says from beside me.

I shrug, “Nothing really, just say a funny interaction between some fans.”

“Where at?”

“It would be rude to point wouldn’t it,” I respond. I shift my eyes back over to where they were sitting and the man is gone. Where could he have gone in such a short amount of time?

I shrug and wave to the fans as I turn back and look at the clock, 1 minute left till we go warm up.

“YOU KNOW THE DRILL, LET'S GO SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS!” Winter says, well screams, as she walks over to us. Geez, never thought I’d see the day where she was so pumped up about us winning, or not so formal for that matter.

Harriet smirks, “We’ll kick their asses, Winter. Don’t worry.”

“Say that louder, Harriet,” Marrow says from beside her.

“DONT ENCOURAGE THAT MARROW!” I say with a pointed look in his direction.

Harriet looks ready to scream it when Winter says, “Don’t you dare, Harriet.”

Harriet huffs and crosses her arms, “Fine.”

Just as we turn around the buzzer rings and we run out onto the court. Oh, here we go.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Clover!” Harriet screams as I run out over to the side to meet the pass she was throwing. I scan the court quickly before dribbling to the side and throwing a pass to Elm. The ball leaves her hands and up to the basket just as the buzzer rings. The ball makes it into the basket as we cheer and smile. I run over and give Elm a high-five. 

As we are running off the court I look to Elm, “How has fending off Hazel been?”

Elm snorts just as we arrive at the bench and grab our water bottles to head to the locker room, “It’s been great, how is Callows?”

I hold out my arm to show a forming bruise, “How has Callows been?”

Marrow runs up beside Elm and me, “Want me to kick his ass next half?”

I shake my head, “We don’t want to get a penalty, Marrow.”

Marrow huffs, “They have been kicking us around and they don’t get a penalty.”

Vine walks up behind us, “We’d be the ones to get it called on.”

Harriet flies in front of us, “ARE WE TRASH TALKING? That Sustrai girl is like sooooooo under aggressive compared to me.”

I roll my eyes at Harriet, “You are just aggressive in general though.”

Once we get to the locker room we all sit down and Winter walks in, “What the hell was that?!”

Marrow throws his hands into the air, “We did fine! I mean we are up!”

Winter squints at Marrow, “I didn’t become the coach if you all are going to play,” she pauses and glares at Marrow, “and act like this!”

Marrow huffs and sits down and Winter continues to drill us with plays, finally, when she leaves to give us time to cool off I say, “This is a much harder game than I thought it would be.”

“They are almost all taller than us, but they are a fair share of aggressive and not so aggressive,” Vine says thoughtfully.

“But hey, we got this, we just have to win this, then we will win it all,” Elm says.

“Fair point,” I say, “Anyways, let’s get back out there, we have a game to win.”

We all run back out onto the court and Winter gives us a thumbs up before screaming, “LET’S BEAT UP THESE EGOTISTICAL SHITHEADS!”

“WINTER!” I scream back as I run back to my position on the court. The refs look between each other when Salem screams back.

“LET’S KILL THESE NO BRAIN BOOTLICKERS!”

“Kill?” Tyrian says with a very, very disturbing smirk on his face.

Harriet looks at me and cracks her knuckles, “Call me if you need a shovel squad, Clover.”

I give her a thumbs up just as the ref blows the whistle to get the game started again. Black throws the ball to Sustrai and she starts to dribble it down the court. She passes it to Black who passes it to Watts, who dribbles around Vine and makes it.

This pattern continues, with them making, a lot more shots than we are. Just as the third quarter is about to end, Callows and I are running down the court when Callows must have tripped me, because one moment I’m running, and the next I’m slamming against the ground. I rub my face for around two seconds before getting up and sprinting down to court after Callows, who has taken up harassing Harriet. He must have not noticed I got up and Harriet passes the ball to me and I shoot it, making it. The crowd roars as we all run back down the court.

One thing I can say is these refs are letting a lot get by, or maybe it’s because we balance each other out with the illegal stuff we do. I am guarding Callows when Harriet intercepts a pass and she looks at me. I frown and yell, “Just take it!”

Harriet smirks and launches the ball in my direction my eyes widen as I see it coming towards me. Harriet runs after the ball she just threw at me and I’m contemplating ducking because that would hurt when Callows steps out in front of me and tries to grab it. The ball slams into his face as he falls backward, I step out of the way and grab the ball and hand it to Harriet.

“You didn’t have to do that you know.”

“Oh I know, but that little cocky bitch deserved it,” Harriet says just as the buzzer rings, signaling the end of the 3rd quarter.

We run off the court when the refs approach Harriet and I, “We didn’t call it because we saw Callows trip you Ebi, but next time, we will call it.”

Harriet and I nod as we run off the court, giving each other a fist bump. When we arrive at the bench Winter is a bit furious, “What was that?! Now we are down by 10?! Not to mention you are about to foul out Harriet!”

Harriet shrugs, “I wouldn’t call 3 fouls about to foul out.”

“You were almost called for the stunt you just pulled!”  
Harriet shrugs again, “He deserved it.”

Winter sighs, “Whatever, just don’t foul out. Second, we need to have better defense and way better offense.”

We all nod and run back onto the court after Winter explains some more things to us. Marrow passes the ball to Harriet who runs out onto the court, avoiding Sustrai just by outrunning her. Harriet is fast, I’ll give her that. I run to the other side, leaving Callows a bit in front of me as Harriet passes me the ball. I look to Marrow who has set himself up just outside the 3 point line and throws it to him. Black gets onto him and Marrow dribbles to the side and shoots it, and surprisingly, makes it. Don’t get me wrong, Marrow is more than capable of making a 3 pointer, but that Mercury guy.

We all run back down the court, and when we get there, Sustrai passes Callows the ball who moves to run around me, I step to the side and he still pushes through, tripping in the process. The whistle gets blown and I sigh when Winter screams.

“THAT’S THREE FOULS EBI!”

Harriet walks over and gives me a high-five, “We are the three fouls group now aren’t we.”

I laugh as I run back over to guard Callows. He gets passed the ball and turns around to shoot when I hit the ball mid-air, and it bounces off over to Harriet, who turns around and instantly starts to run back down the court. Black plants his feet just as Harriet is about to whiz past and gets knocked off his feet. Harriet makes the shot just as the whistle blows, again. The refs were serious when they said they weren’t putting up with our shit anymore.

The refs walk over and take the ball away motioning for Harriet to pass the ball in. Harriet runs over and passes it to Vine, who makes a basket.  
This pattern goes on, till we are both tied up with 1 minute left in the quarter. Their possession, this is going well. 

Sustrai is dribbling down the court when Harriet- oh fuck Harriet, not now.

The whistle blows and Sustrai throws the ball to the ref. The ref walks over, “Reach.”

Elm runs over to Harriet and starts shaking her, “HARRIET!!! WE DIDN'T NEED TO FOUL!”

“Do you want possession or not?” Harriet says as she runs over to block Sustrai.

I sigh and run over to guard Callows, who looks ready to murder. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he has murdered before.

Sustrai slaps the ball and throws it in to Watts, who throws it too, shit. WHERE IS MARROW?

Black gets the ball, shoots it and makes it. Harriet runs and grabs the ball and gives me a look. Ah, we are doing this, aren’t we?

I run to my normal spot when Harriet yells, “LET’S SHOW THEM HELL!”

I look to the scoreboard and there are a solid 20 seconds to pull this off, without them fouling us. Harriet speeds around Sustrai and passes to Elm, who instantly passes it to Marrow, who instantly passes it to Vine since he is the only one open. Vine looks to Harriet and passes it to her, who runs to the other side of the court. I look to the refs to see none of them are looking at me when I give Callows a shove and run out to the 3 points line. Harriet throws the ball at me, and the ball leaves my hands just as the buzzer starts to blare.  
Everyone on the court stops, watching the ball go towards the basket, and honestly, it almost seems like time has stopped. The ball falls through the hoop and all of a sudden the crowd is cheering. I run over to my teammates and we all hug each other when Harriet screams.

“WE DID IT!!!!!!!!”

I laugh, “That we did.”

We tell the other team good game and head down to the locker room and Winter follows us, “That was sloppy, but you did it.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Marrow says as he grabs a towel.

“It was definitely not meant to be one,” Winter says as she sighs, “But good job.”

“Now that was a compliment, Marrow,” Vine says.

I’m about to say something when we hear sirens blare in the distance.

“Well Fuck(™),” I say.

Winter looks behind her when Elm says, “I think we need to leave.”

Harriet nods, “Grab all your stuff and we are getting the hell out of here! There are guns in the car!”

“HARRIET!” Marrow sighs, “You know weapons weren’t allowed!”

Harriet sighs, “You never know these days, Marrow.”  
We all run out through the employee door and we run over to hop into the car. Winter climbs into the driver’s seat, and we all pile into the backseat when Harriet starts to hand us guns from her secret stash.

“Where are we going, Winter?” I ask.

Winter sighs, “To the airship.”

“Like hell we are,” Marrow says, “There is no way we can leave all these people to die. We are all trained for this.”

Winter sighs, “Your safety is my top priority right now.”

I grab ammo and put it into my gun, “I agree with Marrow, we are going.”

I reach to open the door of the car while it was speeding down the highway.

“Clover, no!” She pauses and slams on the break to send us all flying forward, “Fine! You can go help for a little bit till the ship lands!”

We all hop out of the car and we all run in different directions. This isn’t how I expected this celebration party to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tis I, idiotwithacatpen, and I write qrow's pov. I asked kyra to give this chapter a high school musical vibe... and she did it. and the art. I- anyway thank you for reading.
> 
> Hey, now it's Kyra, but yeah, I have never seen high school musical, so I had no clue what I was doing with giving it that kind of vibe, but I did it. I'm not very good at notes because I don't really have much to say. But yes, this basketball game does happen during the apocalypse. Basically it's been 8 years for the first night, and people live in these gated cities, so they have sports tournaments much like the real world we live in. So yeah, that's that? Anyways, like Catpens said earlier, thanks for reading!!!


	3. Zwei Rescue Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blame Catpens for this taking so long- xP
> 
> I'M SORRY KYRA EXCUSE ME W H A T

The second the Ace Ops disappear, Summer stands up and starts forcing us towards the exit. We picked spots on the aisle, so we’re able to slip past the rapidly growing crowds and out of the stadium.

As Ruby steps outside, she catches a glimpse of a man selling cookies to our right. She spins and scans her mother’s face first. When Summer frowns at the cookies, Ruby turns to Tai, but he’s talking to Yang. 

Finally, she looks at Raven and begins, “Mom, can I-”

A high-pitched screech interrupts her, and everyone claps their hands over their ears. It doesn’t take long for me to recognize the distinctive sound of the zombie warning sirens.

“Zombies,” Raven hisses, swearing under her breath. She reaches for her knife, her hand stopping when she remembers that she left it in the van. Before I can even blink, she yanks her red blade out of her boot. “Let’s get to the van and go.”

Ruby grabs Yang’s hand as we break into a run, heading for the corner a few blocks away where we had to leave the van. As we sprint down the block, I remember how close the stadium is to the wall. Depending on where the zombies are coming from, we might be getting ourselves into more danger by moving towards our van.

There’s no time to worry about it now as we turn the corner, not even slowing down. Behind us, I can hear people start to scream and run for their own cars and whatever exit they can find.

When we get to the end of the next block, Ruby freezes, releasing Yang’s hand. “Zwei! We left him in the apartment!”

Summer stops, a conflicted frown on her face. She opens her mouth to respond, and that’s when we hear the first zombie groan. There’s no way to tell where it’s coming from, but it tells us one thing all the same: we’re not safe here.

“We don’t have time,” Summer says at last, shaking her head. Her eyes are sad and already looking slightly teary, but her words are firm. “Zombies don’t usually target dogs anyway.”

Reluctantly, Ruby starts running with us again. As the screams and the moans alike raise in volume, the van comes into view at the end of the street.

Summer looks back as she crosses the street, her eyes widening. “Ruby!”

We follow her gaze across the road, where Ruby is running as fast as she can towards our apartment. Another groan draws my attention, and I see a zombie heading towards us from just ahead of the van.

Raven pulls out a gun from her other boot and shoots it in the head before Tai and Summer even notice it. “She went back for the dog.”

“I’m going after her,” we all say at the same time.

I shake my head. “Yang, not a chance. The rest of you, you can’t risk it.”

“We can’t just-” Tai says, but I interrupt him.

“I’ll get her.” Summer, Tai and Raven are Ruby and Yang’s parents. Out of the four of us, (Yang isn’t an option to go after Ruby) I’m the most expendable. Before Raven can react, I yank her gun from her fingers. “Get to the van and come after us.”

I turn and run, ignoring their shouts of protest. After a second, they end up running for the van, evidently realizing they’ll be able to catch up much faster if they’re in it.

Our apartment isn’t far away from where our van is, but I still have to run several blocks after Ruby. I round the last corner, still far behind her, and find a swarm of zombies shambling towards us.

The slam of the apartment building’s door is audible even at this distance as Ruby dives into it. The zombies aren’t too close yet, but they might be at the apartment by the time she leaves.

Already tiring, I force myself to run faster, my throat burning as I gasp for breath in the cold air. Fingers tightening on the gun, I try to make it to the end of the block before the zombies do.

A high-pitched yip comes from inside the apartment, and the zombies turn, picking up speed. I try to run faster, but my burst of speed is running out. One lunges for the door, and I shoot it down, but the zombies keep coming.

“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby appears out of the second-story window, looking between me and the zombies. Zwei thrashes in her arms, but she won’t let him go. 

I don’t have time to shout back as I open fire, edging towards the door at the same time. I’m still not sure how we’re going to get out, but if we’re lucky, the others will be able to run this entire swarm over.

You can’t rely on luck, I remind myself, and that’s when the bullets run out. I hiss a curse that Tai would definitely charge me for if he was here and glance at the last few zombies, which are still easily twenty feet away. Still not far enough for me to make it to Ruby and back, and at the pace they’re going, not enough for her to even get down the stairs.

Ruby seems to reach the same conclusion, because she screams down at me, “I’m going to jump!”

“You’re going to what?”

In typical Ruby fashion, I get my answer in the form of her swinging herself out of the window, barely holding onto the frame as I run forward. She lets go, and I do my best to catch her.

The impact nearly knocks me over, but for the most part, I manage to break Ruby’s fall. As we stand up, I see the three remaining zombies lurching towards us, much closer than they were before.

We stumble away from them and turn towards the way we came only to find a much larger group shambling towards us. Somehow, I know what we’ll see before I turn, but I look anyway.

Ruby sucks in a horrified breath at the sight of the second zombie swarm. I kick the closer zombies away and start pushing Ruby towards the apartment. “New plan, kiddo. Let’s see if we can get to the roof.”

As if the universe is taunting me, Zwei chooses that exact moment to wiggle out of Ruby’s arms and straight towards the nearest zombie. It pounces immediately, teeth poised to rip out Zwei’s throat. All Ruby and I can do is look away.

The sound of a gunshot echoes around the block as a bullet whizzes just over my head and lodges itself in the zombie’s skull. Zwei dodges its falling body, barking again, and hurries back to Ruby.

I spin, looking for the shooter. As I watch, a man shoots what seems to be a grappling hook at a streetlight and swings down on it.

Landing lightly in what’s almost a superhero pose, the man stands from his crouch. “Need a hand?”

When I see his face, I’m too busy processing to do anything but nod. Without another word, he picks Ruby up and grapples- hey, wait, that looks like a fishing rod, what the hell- up to the top of the building.

The few seconds when I’m alone with the zombies closing in on me would be beyond terrifying if it weren’t for the confusion swirling in my mind. That’s Clover Ebi. The basketball player. What is he-

An arm loops around my waist, snapping me out of my thoughts. The next second, Clover drops me on the roof next to Ruby. As I look up at him again, I’m suddenly conscious of the Ace Ops hat I’m currently wearing- the one with EBI written on it. Not to mention the shirt.

This is… more than a little awkward.

“Thanks,” I manage to say. “But why-”

It’s like Summer and Tai are screaming Ace Ops trivia at me, because that’s when I remember the Ace Ops’ actual jobs. They’re police officers, aren’t they?

Now that I can see him in person instead of on a screen, I can tell that his eyes are a weirdly bright shade of teal, almost like the opposite of Raven’s eyes. And then there’s- well, besides Elm, none of his teammates have muscles like that, do they? (actually, why the hell isn’t he wearing sleeves, it’s freezing out here-)

Well, fuck the police, if you know what I mean.

He takes a step back. “What?”

“Did I say that out loud?”

“You said that out loud,” Ruby supplies helpfully. Zwei barks in agreement.

I sigh, keeping my eyes on the city behind him. “Right… never speak of this to anyone. Let’s just get to the van.”

“Are you going to need help getting down, though?” Clover asks.

Shit.

Two casts of his weird fishing pole later that are significantly more awkward than the first ones, Ruby, Zwei and I are all on the ground by the van. As we climb in, I lock eyes with Clover one last time. He smirks for about half a second before he’s forced to turn away and cover his rapidly reddening face that I’m sure mirrors my own.

Ruby reaches across and shuts the door for me, clearly stifling a giggle. She sits back, and Summer, who seems to have switched with Raven, hugs her tightly.

“Never do that again, okay?” Summer whispers.

“Okay,” Ruby replies as the van jerks into motion.

Raven at the wheel is even more dangerous than Summer. I hear several crunches that I hope are zombies as she turns towards the city exit. Even as she drives through the gates, she turns back to glare at me. “And you’d better not do that again, either.”

“No promises.”

Huffing a sigh, Raven turns back to the road. The sirens are even louder here, but I’m used to them by now. Besides, they were helpful. We’ve been stuck in places without sirens to warn us too many times to count.

“By the way,” Tai says as we drive off, “Raven, you owe me a dollar for the swear jar.”

“Seriously?” Raven snaps. “We’re trying to get out of here before traffic hits and you to talk about a swear jar?”

She’s right to be worried. On First Night, when so many people died, a lot of it was from getting stuck on the highways. The traffic was so bad that they were barely moving, and when the dead came along, well, it was a feast for them.

“Sorry, sorry,” Tai says, raising his hands in surrender. “You’re going to pay me eventually, though.” He points at his already-overflowing can labeled RAVEN in one of the van’s cupholders.

When Raven doesn’t reply, Ruby pipes up instead. “Uncle Qrow owes three dollars now!”

Tai jerks around to squint at me, pointing an accusing finger. “You said the f word in front of my daughter?”

“No, I didn’t,” I protest. Slightly quieter, I whisper to Ruby, “Didn’t we agree not to mention that?”

“You talked and I pretended to agree,” she corrects me.

Tai frowns, still having no idea what we’re talking about. “Look, just pay me double and I won’t ask.”

I spend a few seconds deliberating before I reach into my pocket, find six dollars, and shove them into the half-full can labeled QROW. It’s better if Tai doesn’t find out, or I’ll never hear the end of it.

“Mom?” Ruby nudges Summer. “Where are we going now?”

“Haven, probably,” Summer answers dully. “And if that fails, Atlas.”

If it fails. At this point, we all know it’s when.

But Ruby clearly doesn’t focus on that. She turns to me, grinning slightly. “You know who lives in Atlas?”

Tai sits up straighter, which is hard to do when he’s already twisted around. “The Ace Ops! Do you think we’ll get to meet them in person?”

“Uncle Qrow-” Ruby says.

“-has never met one in person and has no idea what you’re talking about,” I interrupt.

Ruby meets my eyes, smiling even more. It’s not quite a smirk, but there’s something evil about it for sure. “I’ll stop. For now.”

For now. Great. Forget Tai, it’s going to be Ruby who never lets me hear the end of it. That’s going to be fun to deal with.

Trying to distract myself from the subject, I stare resolutely at the road and try to imagine what Haven will be like. It’s much closer to where Raven and I grew up, but I still don’t think I’ve ever been there.

We don’t talk for a while after that, falling into tense silence that none of us seem to want to break. Eventually, the sound of the sirens fades out, leaving only the noise of the van as we drive down the road.

Still, nothing really distracts me. After a while, I give up trying to think about Haven, letting my thoughts drift back to a certain teal-eyed officer.

With luck, I’ll never have to face him again.

Who am I kidding? With luck? Gods, I’m going to have to see him again, aren’t I?

We are going to Atlas.

I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I think we have bigger problems.


	4. Almost Good Endings

_“Fuck the Police if you know what I mean.”_

I blink, did he say that out loud? I am a police officer and this man clearly knows this.

But then I realize this is the man I was staring at earlier, but this time in person and he said what he just said out loud. 

The screams in the background… I have to go, as much as I want to stay with the man in front of him, I have more people to save .

_The man says that they need to get to the van. They all need to get going. The man needs to get out of here, along with the girl. I need to go help the people, that is why I signed up for this job. They didn’t mean to become famous basketball players… they just wanted to do something different for a change. I didn’t mean for them to end up here, but in the end I am happy that they did._

_No matter who came here in the finals, this zombie invasion would have happened. It doesn’t hurt to have a few more people to help save people around here for as big as something like this. This invasion was likely to go down in history, and he would like people to get out of it to tell it._

“Are you going to need help getting down though?”

Nothing was said and I take that as a silent yes as I grab Ruby and swing down and drop her by the van. I swing back up and do the same for the dog and older man. I drop him off and shoot my pistol knocking some zombies down as they drive away.

I swing back up to the rooftops and look around, I need to go where I can protect the people, but I’m no good dead. I have to find a route that is safe to navigate. 

I drop to the backside of the building and run behind them trying to reach the arena. I need to get there. I need to save the people, I think to myself. But I’m cut short when he hears a shrill scream from the side.

I skid to a stop and see zombies closing in from behind, _I have to move or I’ll get eaten myself, but I’m in the backstreets, and I don’t think I can make it in time. I sigh loudly as I look behind me and take off again. Even if I grappled to the rooftops.. Then my escape route might be cut off, and who knows how far away the scream was, it sounded close, but screams can travel long distances if they’re loud enough._

So I continue running on till I get to the arena with little interference, but yet I still have this falling pit in my stomach that something, anything is going to go wrong. But if something was going to go wrong, I want to be there for everyone, especially if something went south. 

I turn around and pull the hammer down on my pistol and start to shoot the zombies running towards him and the evacuating civilians. But once again, when I hear a scream, one that was closer than the previous one, one that came from a person I know I could save.

_But what happens to all these people once they evacuate? Most of them aren’t trained fighters, though if you’ve lived through the apocalypse this long, you must know at least basic survival skills. But living out all on your own? That’s something most people can’t do, which means more zombies will arise. The hoards will get worse. They’ll have to start training more people to protect themselves._

_Atlas is the safest place right now, and for now I am grateful that I live there, that I have the protection that most don’t. You have to have certain qualifications to get into Atlas, but if you come wanting in and you don’t qualify, you get sent to Mantle. Which isn’t the safest, but it is safer than most places out here, and definitely more safe than roaming alone._

_But most of these people here won’t make it to Atlas, will they? They won’t have the resources or skills to build a community... They will be on their own. Then they will resort to killing others for supplies, people are desperate to live these days, desperate to protect their families, and I am grateful that I had training in fighting before all of this. I have more of an upper hand than most people did, than most people still even do._

_Everything that happens here today, everyone who dies everyone who lives, it falls back on him doesn’t it? Maybe not just him, but at least the police, the military, the people protecting those who can not protect themselves. The protectors of his world. The ones the people relied on. I have a job to do, and I would be damned if the General would take that away from me. This is what I’ve always wanted to do, I have always wanted to protect the people. Playing basketball was just a side thing, and just because we might be celebrities; bringing Atlas more pride than it already has, doesn’t mean that I― we can’t help. Putting ourselves before each other, that is what police are supposed to do, right?_

So, after a moment's hesitation, I run in the in the direction of the scream. I have to get there, I have to save her, and no one will stop me. Till they do.

“Clover!” Harriet yells as she runs up behind me, “The General has called us back! We have to go! We are getting the hell out of this place!”

The scream echoes throughout the clearing again, hell, they can evacuate without me if they so choose to do. I am not leaving.

“Leave me then,” I say as I continue to run towards the scream; but, as fast as Harriet is, she eventually catches up to me and grabs my arm.

“These are orders Clover, he is our boss.”

I tug my arm away, “Then go tell him with all due respect, I prioritize others' lives over getting out of here.”

Harriet sighs, seeing as she has no back up, and I am not going anywhere, runs off to get backup or something to drag me off, which means I only have limited time to save whoever the person behind the screams is.

I take off running in the opposite direction, and with little to no incident, reach the screams.

But what almost seems to be a happy reunion, like the hero in the storybooks you read as a kid, is shortly cut off, turned into a horror movie, turned into your worst nightmare.

A girl with red long hair runs up over to me, a chunk of her bicep seems to be bitten, almost seems like a chunk of it was going to fall off, the crimson red blood dripping down her arm. Her face was blistered and bloodied, but other than her arm, everything seemed to be in order.

She looks up at him with vibrant green eyes, her thankfulness showing through them, it almost seemed like everything was going to be alright, that he did here what he came to do.

“What is your name, sir?”

I smile back at the girl, “Clover, Clover Ebi, and you?”

The girl smiles back up at him, “Pyrrha Nikos.”

Clover looks at her bicep then back forward, he pulls out his gun and shoots some of the zombies approaching.

“Miss Nikos… we need to get you to medical, and we need to get going now.”

Miss Nikos puts her bloodied hand up to her right arm as he blood almost slowly starts seeping through her fingers. If she doesn’t get medical help soon, she will bleed out. Don’t they have medical supplies on the ship? They could patch it up till she could get real medical help.

The girl and I start running down the streets towards the airship that Harriet wanted him to come to, that he was ordered to come to. But as they ran, I thought maybe starting a conversation would take away some of the pain.

“So… Miss Nikos.. Where are you from?”

Talking about family seems to be a sensitive subject these days, most people lost at least one loved one in the first night, and most people are still grieving after all these years. That man… and his niece… he is a special case. Honestly, even talking about home can be a sensitive subject, but it is the only thing I thought of, so ask while we are running. The zombies follow in our heels, though as long as they keep moving, they will be fine.

“I’m from Argus… My team is actually from Vale, we were in the basketball championship as well! But the one for you know… college students, not adults,” The girl chuckles a bit, “We did win though! But, after Argus fell, my family travelled here to Vale; it is where I always wanted to go to school. I know Atlas started evacuating people to Mantle after some time, but honestly, by the time that they did, most of the people were dead anyways. Turned into zombies. So we left, honestly, we were long gone when they started to evacuate people; we only heard that they started to evacuate people. But my parents also knew that the big cities were the safest, and being in large groups at the time was dangerous, I mean, they still are dangerous; it’s just the cities have larger protection now.”

Pyrrha sighs, “It was clearly safe till now… what will it take to stop all of this? Less people living than dying? But, we made it to Vale, and I enrolled in school here, got persuaded to join the basketball team by my good friend- my teammate, Nora. She was always bouncing off the walls, though, who knows if she made it out tonight, if any of my teammates made it out tonight, oh gods, will I even ever see them again?”

_the sad, hard truth is… probably not. If something like this happens, depending on where they are in the city, the chances of getting out and living are low, and even if you do get out, the chances are low. Now ever getting to see them again? The probability of that is even lower._

I smile, “Who knows? Maybe you might.”

As I say that, we finally approach the ship I was ordered to come to… how long ago now? When Pyrrha and I arrive near the ship, I am greeted by Harriet, who almost glares at Pyrrha.

“Oh look who saved the day again. You know we can’t bring her with us right?”

I scoff, “And since when were you like this Harriet? You were always somewhat of an asshole, but you weren’t a bitch.”

I push past Harriet with Pyrrha when Harriet grabs my arm and the rest of the team surrounds us when Elm speaks up, “What is going on here?”

“Clover over here is trying to bring this girl on the ship.”

Elm frowns, “You know you can’t do that, Clover.”

I frown, “I’m not just leaving her, and if you want to leave her, you are leaving me as well.”  
Everyone sighs when all of a sudden Pyrrha’s hand is ripped away from mine and everyone’s head snap up to see Pyrrha’s body has been engulfed my a hoard of zombies.

My eyes widen as a choked cry comes out, when Elm and Harriet drag me towards the ship; and I, well… I just started their frozen, watching as the girl who’s hand was in mine a moment ago, the girl who told me her backstory, the girl who seemed to genuinely want to help people, was ripped to shreds by the zombies.

And soon, she would be one of them too.

\--------

When we arrive back on the ship, they set me down in a chair, as they all sit down and the plane takes off. 

_Throughout my years, I have seen numerous people die, to not be able to save them; but there was something different about this one, something, that girl… she was worth saving, she was better than this world even in the short time I knew her. She was honest, caring. Then to be so close to saving her, then to have that ripped away from him, it was devastating._

The General walks back into the backroom, where he and his team was sitting.

“Clover, you disobeyed an order.”

“With all due respect, I did it for the right reason.”

“That could get you fired you know,” The General states.

_I’m upset, and I’m angry, and I really don’t want to be having this conversation right now, but I don’t really have a choice do I? The General wants to have this conversation, and he is not going to take no for an answer, and he still is his boss._

“You can’t fire me, I’m the anchor of this team,” I state with ease. I look over to my teammates, “And since when did you all become so stuck up? You used to want to help the people too, you know.”

A flicker of doubt runs through Marrow's face.

“You should have thought of that when you signed up for this job, Clover,” Ironwood states to him, “You are supposed to follow orders now.”

“I’m not just some brainless soldier you can control!”

The General sighs heavily, and throws a glare in my direction as he heads to the front of the ship again. It seems this conversation is over, though I can only assume that I’m going to get in more trouble later because that couldn’t be the end of it right? I mean I did directly disobey orders, I won’t get off the hook so easily.

“You can’t just run off disobeying orders like that, Clover,” Vine states, “That's how you get killed”

“And whose life is more important? Mine or someone else's?”

_And that really is the question isn’t it? What is the right thing to do? What should you do in situations like this? What do you do in situations where it is you or another person live? Do you save yourself and sacrifice the other person, or do you sacrifice yourself to save your companion? But these things happen daily out there, and I am grateful to be in Atlas, it seems to be the safest place that there is right now. So maybe I should just follow orders, so I don’t get kicked out._

_But then it rounds back to the dilemma of who do you want to save more? I surely could have a better chance of not getting kicked out if I just followed orders, but what about the people we are supposed to be protecting? If I wasn’t there tonight, what would’ve happened to that man and his niece? Would tragedy have fallen onto that family as well?_

_So, I don’t regret any of tonight, other than the fact I got dragged onto this bloody ship. I saved more than one person today, and I… I almost saved more._

_But- What do I do next? What do we do next, that is the real question here isn’t it? Go back to Atlas where it is safe I presume. But after seeing what I witnessed here tonight, how much harder will I work? Having what I saw tonight, will anything I do be good enough so stop the inevitable?_


End file.
